Method of operating a roll baler

ABSTRACT

A method is provided for operating a roll baler having upper and lower bale forming devices that cooperate with each other to define a bale starting zone. The upper bale forming device extends around a drive member and around an indexing guide member which has a home position for disposing the upper bale forming device proximate to the lower bale forming device at the rear of the bale starting zone. The drive member is engaged with a power source such as a tractor PTO to move the upper bale forming device in a direction to start a roll bale in the bale starting zone. When the roll bale reaches a predetermined diameter, the indexing guide member is moved in a substantially circular path of travel generally about the periphery of the roll bale. The drive member is disengaged from the power source when the indexing guide member has moved to another position. Subsequently, the drive member is reengaged with the power source when the indexing guide member has returned to its home position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method of operating a roll baler havingupper and lower bale forming means cooperating to define a bale startingzone. The upper bale forming means extends around an indexing guidemember and around a drive member. The indexing guide member has a homeposition for disposing the upper bale forming means proximate to thelower bale forming means at the rear of the bale starting zone.According to the method of the present invention, the drive member isengaged with a power source to move the upper bale forming means in adirection to start a roll bale in the bale starting zone. When the rollbale reaches a predetermined diameter, the indexing guide member ismoved from its home position in a substantially circular path of travelgenerally about the periphery of the roll bale. The drive member isdisengaged from the power source when the indexing guide member has beenmoved to another position. When the indexing guide member has returnedto its home position, the drive member is reengaged with the powersource.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a roll baler embodying the present invention asa roll bale is being started;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the roll baler of FIG. 1 when a roll bale ofpredetermined diameter has been formed;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the roll baler of FIG. 1 during completion of aroll bale;

FIG. 4 is another side view of the roll baler of FIG. 1 as a roll baleis being completed;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the roll baler of FIG. 1 when one roll bale hasbeen completed and another roll bale is being started; and

FIG. 6 is a side view of the roll baler of FIG. 1 during discharge of acompleted roll bale.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, a roll baler 10 is similar to the type disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 3,914,926 granted Oct. 28, 1975, to Benjamin A.Braunberger et al and incorporated herein by reference. The type ofbaler disclosed in this patent has been manufactured and sold by GehlCompany as Model Nos. 1400 and 1600. The roll baler 10 includes a mainbody portion or frame 12 supported by a pair of wheels 14, and anauxiliary body portion or tailgate 16. A tongue 18 is provided on theframe 12 for connection to a tractor. A pickup device 20 mounted on theframe 12 includes a plurality of tines 22 rotatable about a shaft 23 forengaging and picking up crop material arranged in windrows on theground.

The frame 12 includes a pair of sidewalls 13 which are verticallyoriented and spaced apart. The tailgate 16 includes a pair of sidemembers 17 rigidly connected together by cross members (not shown). Theside members 17 of the tailgate 16 are pivotally connected by stubshafts 24 to the sidewalls 13 of the frame 12. A pair of hydrauliccylinders 26 are connected between the sidewalls 13 of the frame 12 andthe side members 17 of the tailgate 16 for moving the tailgate 16between the closed position shown in FIG. 1 and the open position shownin FIG. 6.

Lower bale forming means such as a conveyor 28 in the form of an endlessbelt extends between the sidewalls 13 of the frame 12 and is supportedon front and rear rollers 30 and 32, respectively, which are rotatablycarried on the frame 12. The upper run 29 of the conveyor 28 issupported between the front and rear rollers 30,32 by intermediaterollers 34 and 36 which are also rotatably carried on the frame 12. Apress roller 38 extends between and is supported on the sidewalls 13 ofthe frame 12 directly above the front roller 30 of the conveyor 28 tocompress incoming crop material into a mat. The press roller 38 and thefront roller 30 of the conveyor 28 are connected by conventional drivemeans (not shown), such as chains and sprockets, to the power take offunit (PTO) of a tractor in a manner to cause rotation of the pressroller 38 and the conveyor front roller 30 in the directions indicatedin FIG. 1. The upper run 29 of the conveyor 28 moves rearward from thefront roller 30 to the rear roller 32.

A plurality of guide members or rollers 40,42,44 and 46 extend betweenand are rotatably supported on the sidewalls 13 of the frame 12. Anotherplurality of guide members or rollers 48,50,52,54,56 and 58 extendbetween and are rotatably supported on the side members 17 of thetailgate 16. Shuttle members 60 are slidably mounted on the sidewalls 13of the frame 12 for back and forth movement in a substantiallyhorizontal direction near the top of the frame 12. A pair of guidemembers or rollers 62 and 64 extend between and are rotatably carried bythe shuttle members 60. Upper bale forming means preferably comprised ofa series of belts 66 which are endless extend around the aforementionedguide members or rollers in a side-by-side, spaced apart arrangementbetween the sidewalls 13 of the frame 12 and also between the sidemembers 17 of the tailgate 16. The rollers 40 and 44 are connected tothe PTO of a tractor by drive means (not shown) in a conventional mannerto drive the belts 66 in the direction and along the path indicated inFIG. 1. The shuttle members 60 are urged forwardly toward the phantomposition shown in FIG. 1 by spring mechanisms (not shown) to maintain acertain amount of tension in the belts 66.

According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a pairof disks 68 are disposed inside the frame 12 closely adjacent andparallel to the sidewalls 13 thereof. Each disk 68 is in the form of aflat circular plate. The disks 68 are fixed at their centers to stubshafts 70 which in turn are rotatably mounted in bearing members locatedin the sidewalls 13 of the frame 12. An indexing guide member in theform of a roller 72 is rotatably connected between the disks 68 at alocation radially outwardly from the stub shafts 70. The indexing roller72 extends transversely of the baler 10. Teeth 74 formed on theperipheral edges of the disks 68 are adapted for engagement withsprockets 76 rotatably mounted on brackets 78 attached to the sidewalls13 of the frame 12. The sprockets 76 are connected by a cross shaft 80.One end of the cross shaft 80 is coupled to an electric clutch and brakedevice (not shown) such as Model No. IXC-931 manufactured by WarnerElectric Corporation. This electric clutch and brake device may beselectively operated as either a clutch to allow the shaft 80 and thesprockets 76 to be rotated or as a brake to hold the shaft 80 and thesprockets 76 stationary.

With reference to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the belts 66 passunderneath the indexing roller 72 so that a lower span 67 of the belts66 running from the indexing roller 72 to the drive roller 40 moves insubstantially the opposite direction as the upper run 9 of the conveyor28. This relationship between the direction of movement of the lowerspan 67 of the belts 66 and the direction of movement of the upper run29 of the conveyor 28 causes crop material to be coiled or wrapped in amanner to effectively start a roll bale. The lower span 67 of the belts66 is expandable in length during bale formation.

OPERATION

As the baler 10 is towed across a field by a tractor, the pickup device20 delivers crop material between the press roller 38 and the front ofthe conveyor 28. The upper run 29 of the conveyor 28 carries the cropmaterial rearward into a bale starting zone 69 where it is engaged bythe lower span 67 of the belts 66 which causes coiling of the cropmaterial and formation of the core of a roll bale. During this stage ofbale formation, the electric clutch and brake device (not shown) isoperated as a brake so that the disks 68 are held stationary by thesprockets 76 and the indexing roller 72 is located in a home position asshown in FIG. 1 thereby causing the belts 66 to be pinched against theupper run 29 of the conveyor 28 at the rear of the bale starting zone69. As the bale increases in diameter, the shuttle members 60 moverearward along the top of the frame 12 as shown in FIG. 1 against theforce of the spring mechanisms (not shown). This allows the lower span67 of the belts 66 to expand around the periphery of the bale.

When a bale of predetermined diameter has been formed, the electricclutch and brake device (not shown) is operated as a clutch so that thesprockets 76 are driven via the shaft 80 thereby causing rotation of thedisks 68 in the direction indicated in FIG. 2 and movement of theindexing roller 72 from its home position in a substantially circularpath of travel generally about the periphery of the bale. Initialrotation of the disks 68 moves the indexing roller 72 out of engagementwith the belts 66 as seen in FIG. 3 while crop material continues to beadded to the bale. When the indexing roller 72 has moved to the positionshown in FIG. 4 where it is adjacent the roller 40, the bale will havemoved slightly rearward thereby partially extending into the tailgate16. At this point, the belts 66 are disconnected from the PTO of thetractor by disengaging the drive means (not shown) between the rollers40 and 44 and the tractor PTO. The belts 66 remain disconnected from thetractor PTO until the disks 68 complete one full 360 revolution and theindexing roller 72 returns to its home position as shown in FIG. 5.

When the indexing roller 72 is returned to its home position again, thebale starting zone 69 is consequently reformed and the belts 66 arereconnected to the tractor PTO. A new bale is then started in the balestarting zone 69 while the tailgate 16 is moved to its open position asshown in FIG. 6 by extending the hydraulic cylinders 26, and thecompleted bale is discharged. Subsequent to discharging the completedbale from the roll baler 10, the tailgate 16 is moved back to its closedposition of FIG. 1 and the baling operation continues withoutinterruption.

It will be understood that the present invention is not limited to theparticular roll baler 10 which is similar to the roller disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 3,914,926. Accordingly, the present invention may beincorporated in other types of roll balers. extending into the tailgate16. At this point, the belts 66 are disconnected from the PTO of thetractor by disengging the drive means (not shown) between the rollers 40and 44 and the tractor PTO. The belts 66 remain disconnected from thetractor PTO until the disks 68 complete one full 360 revolution and theindexing roller 72 returns to its home position as shown in FIG. 5.

When the indexing roller 72 is returned to its home position again, thebale starting zone 69 is consequently reformed and the belts 66 arereconnected to the tractor PTO. A new bale is then started in the balestarting zone 69 while the tailgate 16 is moved to its open position asshown in FIG. 6 by extending the hydraulic cylinders 26, and thecompleted bale is discharged. Subsequent to discharging the completedbale from the roll baler 10, the tailgate 16 is moved back to its closedposition of FIG. 1 and the baling operation continues withoutinterruption.

It will be understood that the present invention is not limited to theparticular roll baler 10 which is similar to the roller disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 3,914,926. Accordingly, the present invention may beincorporated in other types of roll balers.

The drive rollers 40 and 44 are disengaged from the tractor PTO byutilizing a conventional clutch mechanism (not shown) which may beelectrically, mechanically or hydraulically operated.

The following claims are intended to cover all modifications andvariations of the preferred embodiment of the present disclosed hereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:
 1. A method ofoperating a baler for forming roll bales of crop material, said balerhaving upper and lower bale forming means cooperating to define a balestarting zone, said upper bale forming means extending around a singleindexing guide member and around a drive member, said single indexingguide member having a home position for disposing said upper baleforming means proximate to said lower bale forming means at the rear ofsaid bale starting zone, said method of operating said baler comprisingthe steps of:engaging said drive member with a power source to move saidupper bale forming means in a direction to start a roll bale in saidbale starting zone; moving said single indexing guide member from saidhome position in a substantially circular path of travel when said rollbale reaches a predetermined size; disengaging said drive member fromsaid power source while said roll bale is being formed and when saidsingle indexing guide member has been moved from said home position lessthan one full 360° revolution around said path of travel to anotherposition; and reengaging said drive member with said power source whensaid single indexing guide member has been moved from said anotherposition back to said home position thereby completing one full 360°revolution for said single indexing guide member around said path oftravel during the formation of said roll bale.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein said another position of said indexing guide member is locatedpart of the way around said circular path of travel.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein said another position of said indexing guide member isalso located adjacent said drive member.